Folding machine



March 11, 1 -1. J. E. McxNTxRE FOLDING MACHINE Filed March 6, 1939 9 Sheets-Sheet lvv mf/Wm: m.

March 11, 1941. .1. E; Mcm-rma FOLDING MACHINE Filed March 5; 19.39

9 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 11, 1941. J. E. MclNTlRE FOLDING MACHINE Filed March 6, 1959 9 Sheets-#Sheet 3 March 11, 1941. J. E. Mcm-NRE FOLDING MACHINE Filed Ilarch 6, 1959 9 sxwets--sheetI 4 Hs 77m mh. y? xv/N a 95 ma .w7- 5 2 T ,wv 9 a 9 DE 5 .1 -l w. M

March 11, 1941. .1. E. MclNTlRE I 2,234,270

FOLDING MACHINE Filed March 6, 1939 9 Sheets--Sheet 5 March 11, 1941. J. E. Mexm-IRE FOLDING MACHINE Filed March 6, 1939 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 9 Sheets-Sheet 7 March 11, 1941. J. E. Mcm-rms FOLDING MACHINE Filed March s, 1959 March 11, 1941. 1 E, Mummia 2,234,270

FOLDING MACHINE Filed March 6, 1939 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 x f, o 'f al) m ,2.59 XXII 23'/ f 215 52 la ETI 233 1 Vl/7V 727/517:

March 11, 1941. J. E. Mc'lNTiRE 2,234,270

FOLDING MACHINE Filed March 6, 1959 9 SheetsLSheet 9 li? 26. lig? 27. e -lW//i/ Patented Mar. 11, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOLDING MACHINE Jersey Application March 6, 1939, Serial No. 259,940

18 Claims.

This invention relates to folding machines and is herein illustrated as embodied in a machine for folding the margins of parts of uppers of boots and shoes.

In the manufacture of shoes it is common to fold certain margins of the parts of the uppers to provide nished edges which will impart a pleasing appearance to the shoes. There are two well known kinds of edges which are finished by a folding operation. In one case the margin which is folded over is integral with the body portion of the part. In the other case, commonlyI known as French binding, a strip of binding material is attached to the part along its edge on the display side and is folded over the attached portion and about the edge of the part. In any case, the marginal portion which is foldedover, whether integral with the body portion or not, is held in place by an adhesive of some sort which ordinarily is applied to the part prior to the folding operation.

In the folding of parts of the uppers of certain kinds of shoes, concavely curved edges are encountered, the curvatures of which are very sharp so that it is necessary to turn a part having such edges about a small radius. In folding any margin it is desirable that the fold-presser or hammer which presses the fold move in a curved path, the directional components of which are downward and across the line of feed toward the body portion of the work in order that the hammer may properly engage the previously bent up margin, bend it farther and lay it smoothly in place.

In order to satisfy these two conditions, namely, that the hammer shall move in the path described and that nevertheless its stem shall not interfere with the turning of the work about a small radius, the hammer or fold-presser of the machine of the present 'invention is suspended above the work support and moved about an axis located beneath the work support in a curved path the plane of which is transverse to the line of feed of the work. In the illustrated construction, an arm of the frame of the machine overhangs the work support and supports a member having a curved guideway, the axis of the curvature of which is located below the surface of the work-support; and the hammer has an upwardly extending slender stem having at its upper end a curved guide which is reciprocated in the curved guideway. The hammer is thus suspended above the work support and its operative stroke is such as to press the fold smoothly into place.

This and other features of the invention, including certain details of construction and combinations of parts, will be described as embodied in an illustrated machine and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a view, partly in front elevation and partly in vertical longitudinal section, of a machine in which the present invention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a plan of the machine;

Fig. 31s a horizontal section on the line III- III of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the machine Viewed from the left of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section showing more particularly parts of the mechanisms for controlling the operation of the feeding means and of the knife;

Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal section through a portion of the machine, the folder having been omitted;

Fig. 7 is a perspective of a casting in which the anvil, the folder and the gripper-finger are slidably mounted;

Fig. 8 is a perspective showing more particularly the mechanism for oscillating and reciprocating the hammer and the mechanism for reciprocating the anvil;

Fig. 9 is a detail, principally in section, of part of the mechanism for simultaneously varying the extent of the reciprocation of the hammer and the anvil;

Fig. 10 is a View similar to Fig. 4 but on a larger scale, certain cover plates having been removed and certain parts having been shown in cross-section;

Fig. 11 is a s-ection on the line XI-XI of Fig. 6;

Fig. 12 is a vertical longitudinal section through a portion of the machine viewed from the rear on the line XII-XII of Fig. 10;

Fig. 13 is a View, partly in plan and partly in horizon-tal section, showing more particularly the hammer-operating mechanism;

Fig. 14 is a detail in plan showing more particularly the anvil and the linkage for varying the extent of its reciprocation;

Fig. 15 is a view, principally in plan, of the lower forward portion of the machine, certain parts having been removed to show more particularly the anvil and its mounting;

Fig. 16 is a section on the line XVI-XVI of Fig. 19;

Fig. 17 is a section on the line XVII-XVII of Fig. 18;

jas

l curved guideway in a carrier 59.

Fig. 22 is a section on the line XXII-XXII of Fig. 25 showing the pivotal mounting of the gage and of the lever, manipulation of which raises the presser-foot;

Fig. 23 is a View, partly in -elevationand partly in section, on the line XXIII-m11 of Fig. 25 showing more particularly the relation of the presser-foot, the gripper-finger and the gage;

Fig. 24 Ais a section on the line XXIV-XXIV of Fig. 25;

Fig. 25 is a vertical section through the presserl foot carrier;

Fig. 26 is a section on the line XXVI- XXVI of Fig. 29;

Fig. 27 is a section on the linev XXVII-XXVII of Fig. 29;

Fig. 28 isgan end elevation of the lower part of the machine, the cover plate having been removed; and

Fig. 29 is a section on the line XXIX-XXIX of Fig. 28.

The machine comprises (Figs. 1 and 2) a frame consisting of abase 49 and an overhanging arm 4|, a drive shaft 43 journaled in the overhanging arm and driven by means of a pulley 45 and a belt 46, and a countershaft 41 journaled in the base and driven from the driving shaft 43 by a chain 49. The work is fed intermittently away from the observer, as viewed in Fig. 1, overy a table or work-support |11, past a plow or preliminary turning member 235, which turns up the margin of the work as far as a gage 231 will permit, past a knife 36| which may be rendered operative, if desired, to snip the margin of the work, and beneath a presser-foot 23| over an edge of which the turned-up margin of the work is bent still farther by a reciprocating folder 229 to form the fold. The work then passes' between a fold-presser or hammer (Fig. 8) and an anvil |63 which first press the fold and then feed thev work one step. During the operation of the folder 229 (Fig. 1), the work is held stationary by a gripper-finger 233 which presses the work intermittently against the underside of the presser foot 23|. In the operation of the machine the work is fed intermittently by the hammer and the anvil. The anvil moves back and forth in a straight path while the hammer has a four-motion feed, that is, it descends to lpress the fold against the anvil, then moves forward with the anvil, `and then rises and moves back with the anvil into position to descend once more upon the fold which has been formed by the fold-forming instrumentalities.

The hammer is carried by the overhanging arm of the frame and is oscillated about a horizontal axis which is located beneath the work support, for example, the horizontal axis indicated at in Fig. 1. The hammer 5| (Figs. 6 and 8) is removably fastened to the lower end of its slender stem 53 by a screw 55, the upper end of the stem being integral with a slide 51 having curved upper and lower faces, said slide being received' in a The curves ofV the guideway and the slide are struck from a' center, such as a: (Fig. 1). The hammer-carrier 59 is mounted for horizontal reciprocati-on on the overhanging arm 4| in a manner which will be explained later. In order to cause the hammer to oscillate, the slide 51 is reoiprocated in the curved guideway in the carrier 59. To this end a link 6| connects the slide 51 with the lower end of the substantially vertical arm of a bell-crank lever 63, which is pivoted to the overhanging arm 4| at 65, the substantially horizontal arm of this bell-crank lever being connected by a link 61 with one end of a lever 59 pivoted at 1| to the overvhanging arm. The other end of the lever 69 is pivoted at 13 to a small square member, which is slidable in a horizontal guideway in a block (Fig. 6), which in turn is vertically slidable in the overhanging arm 4|, said block 15 having a hcllow, downwardly extending stem which is slidable in a socket formed in a second slide-block 11. A compression spring 19 rests with its lower end upon the bottom of the socket in the lower block 11 and at its upper end rests against the lower end of a screw 8| threaded into the upper end of the upper block 15. The slide-block 11 is reciprocated to cause oscillation o-f the hammer 5| by means of a yoke 83, which straddles a cam 85 (Fig. 1l) on the driving shaft 43, said yoke being pivoted about a rockshaft 81 carried by the overhanging arm M and also being pivoted by a pin 89 to a small block 88, which is slidable in a horizontal guideway in the lower block 11. Rotation of the shaft 43 rocks the yoke 83 about the axis of the shaft 31 and reciprocates the slide-block 11 Vertically. Upward movement of the lower slideblock is transmitted to the upper slide-block 15 through the spring 19 (Fig. 6), the tension of which may be varied by turning the screw 8|. This upward movement of the upper slide-block acts to rock the hammer 5| down about the axis indicated at .fr in Fig. 1 so as to press the fold; and, because of the spring 19, the blow of the hammer upon the work is a yielding one to provide for pieces of work of different thicknesses. The downwardly extending stem of the upper block 15 has integral with it on opposite sides two projections 96, which bear against the wall of an enlarged portion of the socket in the lower block 11, there being above the left-hand projection 90 an overhanging projection 92 integral with the lower block 11 so that, when the block 11 is lowered, the upper block 15 is; also lowered.

As has been explained, the hammer is rocked down upon the work. It is then moved horizontally forward, then rocked up away from the work and finally moved horizontally back to its initial position. The hammer-carrier 59 is mounted for horizontal sliding movement on two parallel rods 9|, 93 (Figs. 6 and 8) carried by a removable cap 95 (Fig. 6) which is fastened to the overhanging arm 4| by screws 91, the upper rod 9| having a flattened portion which is received in a horizontal guideway in the hammer-carrier. Horizontal sliding movement of the hammer-carrier 59, without causing binding of the mechanism for oscillating the hammer is permitted by reason of the fact that the downwardly extending arm of the bell-crank lever 63 (Fig. 8') has at its lower end a yoke, the `arms of which are spaced considerably apart so that the upper end of the link 6| may slide horizontally on the pin 96 by which the link is pivoted to the bell-crank lever. The hammer-carrier 59 has a horizontal stem rectangular in cross-section which is slidable in a guideway formed in the cap 95 and is reciprocated by means of a well-known form of linkage which may readily be adjusted to vary the extent of the reciprocation of the hammer-carrier.A The horizont-al stem of the hammer-carrier 59 is shown in cross-section and in plan, respectively, in Figs. 12 and 13, and it will be noted that a gib 98 forms one side of the guideway for the stem and that screw bolts |02 are provided for adjustingthe gib to take up for wear. A bell-crank lever 91 (Fig. 8) is pivoted at the end of its horizontal arm at 99 to the outer end of the stem of the hammer-carrier 59 and at the end of its vertical arm at |0| to the lower end of a link |33, the upper end of which is pivoted to the outer end of an arm |05, the hub of which is pinned to the rockshaft 81, said rockshaft being rocked by a yoke |01 which is fast to the rockshaft and straddles a cam on the driving shaft 43.

In order to control the movement of the bellcrank lever 91 and thereby vary the extent of the reciprocation of the hammer-carrier 59, said bell-crank lever is pivoted at |09 to the lower end of a link I, the upper end of which is pivoted to the upper end of an arm ||3 which is fastened to one end of a manually operated feedcontrol rockshaft ||5 carried by the overhanging arm 4|. This rockshaft has at its right-hand end (Fig. 8) a member having two arms ||9, |2|. The arm |2| serves to control the reciprocation of the anvil, as will later appear. The arm H9 is pivoted to the upper end of a treadle rod |23, the lower end of which is pivoted to a treadle, not shown, which is held up by a spring, also not shown. When the feed-control shaft I5 is rocked to bring the pivot at the upper ends of the links ||3 into line with the pivot 99, the bell-crank lever 91 will be rocked idly about its pivot 99; but when the aforesaid pivots are out of line, reciprocation will be imparted to the hammer-carrier 59, the extent of this reciprocation depending upon how much the aforesaid pivots are out of line. The arm |2| on the rockshaft ||5 is pivoted to the upper end of a link |25, the lower end of which is pivoted to an arm |21 on a second rockshaft |29 mounted in the base of the machine, rocking of which controls the extent of reciprocation of the anvil through a link mechanism, later to be described. When the treadle rod |23 is moved up or down, both shafts ||5, |29 will be rocked equally, the construction being such that the extent of reciprocation of the hammer is always the same as that of the anvil. In order to predetermine the limits of such reciprocation-that is, the limits of feed movement imparted to the worka second arm |3I, carried by the rockshaft |29 and integral `with the arm |21, is adapted to engage either one of two stops in the form of eccentric pins |33, |35 carried at the inner ends of short rods |31, |39 which are rotatable in bushings, said bushings being integral with a small plate |4| (Figs. 1 and 9) fastened to the frame of the machine. The rods |31, |39 have, respectively, knurled heads |43, |45 fastened to them by pinchscrews; and each knurled head carries a pawl to hold it in any angular position into which it may be moved. Since the pawls are alike only one will be described. Referring to Fig. 9, the pa-wl |41 of the knurled head |45 is in the form of a bell-crank lever pivoted at |49 to the head and normally held in a selected notch |5| in the plate |4| by a spring |53. Both knurled heads |43, |45 and the plate |4| with two sets of notches, one for each head, are shown in Fig- 1. By turning the heads |43, |45, the extent of the maximum and minimum feed movements capable of being imparted to the work by manipulating the treadle rod |23 may be predetermined. It

should be particularly noted that the hammermoves in its descent in a curved path, the two components of movement of which are respectively downward upon the fold and inward toward the body portion of the work, and that the hammer is suspended by a slender stem from the overhanging arm. The curved path of movement; ensures proper pressing of the fold about the line determined by the edge of the presserfoot about which the fold is formed by the folder; and the slender upwardly extending stem permits operation upon sharply concave curves of small radii.

The anvil |33 (Fig. 8) is fastened toan anvilcarrier |65, said carrier being slidable upon a horizontal rod |91 which is held in a casting |69 (Fig. 7), said casting being fastened to the base of the machine by dowel pins and by screws which pass through the four holes |1|. One end of this rod |61 is received in the hole |13 and the other end in an alined hole at the other end of the casting, as best shown in Fig. 10. In this latter figure, the reason for the sockets in the ends of the rod |61 appears. These sockets receive pins |15 which help to hold the work table |11 removably in place. The anvil-carrier |65 is reciprocated from the countershaft 41 through an adjustable link mechanism similar to that through which the hammer-carrier is reciprocated. Referring more particularly to Fig. 10, a cam |19 on the countershaft 41 is straddled by a yoke |8I, said yoke being pivoted about the axis of a pin |83, which is driven into the yoke and is received in a hole (Fig. 7) in the casting |09. Referring again to Fig. 10, pivoted at its lower end to the yoke |8| is a link |81, the upper end of which is pivoted to the substantially vertical arm oi a bell-crank lever |89, the substantially horizontal arm of which is pivoted at |96 to an ear on the underside of the anvilcarrier |05. Pivoted about a pivot |9|, which is rotatable in a bore in the frame of the machine, is the upper end of a link |95, the lower end of which is pivoted at |91 to the upper end of a link |99, the lower end of which is pivoted to the outer end of an arm 20|, the hub of which is fast to one end of the rockshaft |29. A link 203 is pivoted at its lower end about the pivot |91 and at its upper end about a pivot 205 carried by the bell-crank lever |99. When now, the shaft |39 is rocked to cause the pivots |96 and |91 to be in alinement, oscillation of the yoke |8| will rock the bell-crank lever idly; but when the shaft |29 is rocked to move the pivots |96, |91 out of alinement, the anvil-carrier |65 will be reciprocated. The rockshaft |29 (Fig. 8), as has been explained, is connected to the rockshaft H5; and when the treadle rod |23 is manipulated the two shafts are rocked in unison so that the extent of feed movement of the hammer is always equal to that of the anvil.

The anvil-carrier |95 (Figs. 12 and l5) has an upper portion which is substantially rectangular in cross-section and is slidable between two gibs 201 adjustably mounted in a recess in the casting |09, and each adjustable toward the anvil-carrier |55 by means of two screws 209, the four screws being threaded, respectively, through the F holes 2|| (Fig. 7) in the opposite walls of the casting and abutting in pairs the gibs 201 (Fig. 15). In order to hold the gibs iirmly against the ends of the adjusting screws 209, two screws 213 are provided, the stems of which pass respectively through the holes A2|5 (Fig. '7) in the opposite walls of the `casting |69-and are threaded into the gibs. By this construction means is provided for taking up wear of the parts.

The .work support or table |11 (Figs. 1 and 2) is made in two parts, being split lengthwise of the machine, fas indicated in Fig. 2, -so as to comprise a front part and a rear part. These two partsY have each a downwardly extending lug through which, and into holes in the opposite ends of the rod |61 (Fig. 10), the pins |15 pass. rods, one of Vwhich is shown at 2|1 in Fig. 4 and both of which 2|1, 2|9 are shown in Fig. 16, are pivoted at one of their ends, respectively, about pivots 22|, 223 carried by the lug of vthe rear part of the table. The other .ends of the latch rods may be swung into and out of open-sided slots in the lug of the front part of the table and have, respectively, thumb nuts 225, 221 at their ends. The table is thus firmly clamped in place upona part of the base of the machine which is received between the two downwardly projecting lugs of the table, and the table may readily be removed and replaced when desired. The table has an opening near its center to expose certain members, including the anvil which has just been described, so that they may engage the under side ofthe work.

Referring to Figs. 23 to 25, in which a piece of work |99, such as a leather shoe part, is shown in process of being operated upon, the work is intermittently held stationary during the operation of the folder 229 by the action of the presser-foot 23| and the gripper-finger 233, later to be described, which is moved up at the proper time to grip the work against the lower face of the Vpresser-foot, said gripper-linger being moved down at the proper time to permit the work to be fed. The work is fed over the table away from the observer (Fig. 25) with its margin engaging thevplowV 235, a gage 231 which extends over the plow limiting the extent -of the margin which is turned up and hence the width of the fold. Just ahead ofthe plow, in the direction of feed move` ment, the presser-foot 23| engages the work;` and over the edge of this presser-foot the upturned margin of the work is bent by the folder 229. The presser-foot 23| and the gage 231 are mounted in a readily removablecasting 238,` which is fastened to the cap95 by screws24.`

The stem of the gage 231 (Fig. 22) is mounted upon a pivot 239 carried by the casting 238, has at its right-hand end a finger-piece 24| by which that end may be depressed, and is normally held in the `position shown by a Spring 242. Thei'ln ger-piece 24| is located below a second fingerpiece 243 on a lever 245, which is also mounted thereby raise the presser-foot in a manner presently to be described. It will be noted that, when the linger-piece 243 is depressed rto raise the presser-foot, the finger-piece 24| is also depressed to raise the gage 231, such raising of these two .members serving to facilitate presentation of a piece of work to the machine. The left-hand end of the lever- 245 engages the underside of a l roll 241 which is rotatable on a horizontal pivot 249 carried at the lower end of a vertically slidable presser-carrier 25|. The presser-foot 23| l presser-foot which is above the pivot pin having i at its upper end acam-arm which is held in enplate 25| fastened to the casting 238, vand thev tension of the spring may be varied by turning a screw 263. tened in a bore in its upper part the lower end of a rod or stem 265, saidrod being vertically slidable in a sleeve 261, the upperv part of which isslidable and rotatable in a vbore formed in a part of the casting 238, and the lower part of which is threaded into a sleeve 289 which is held from rotation but is vertically slidable in a guideway,

one'side of which is the inner face of the plate Threaded on the upper `end of the rod1265 are an adjusting nut 21| and a check-nut 213 to' limit the extent of the downward movement-of the presser-carrier. A spring 242, which'rests upon the presser-carrier 25|, engages withoits upper end a washer 244, which in turn engagesA With the above.

the lower end of the sleeve 269. construction the vertical position of the'presserfoot 23| may bevaried by turning the adjusting nut 21|; and the tension of the spring 242 may be varied without varyingthe vertical position of the presser-foot by turning the sleeve 281 byl means of the hexagonal head formed at its upper end. The angular position of the presser-foot may be varied by turning the pin 256.

Referring more particularly toFigs.v 16 to 19,l the mounting of the folder 229 will be described.. The operative portion of the folder is a slender' finger. The stern (Fig. 19), however, is'in the form of a comparatively thin bar much wider than the slender finger, said bar being bevelledalong its opposite sides, as indicated at 215. The stem is slidable in a dovetailed guideway formed' partly in a block 211 and partly'in a' second block' 219. The block 219 is clamped adjustably to the block 211 by a screw 23 the stem of which passes through a hole in the block 219 and is threaded' into the block 211. In order to space the blocks properly, two set screws 233, one on each side The crank-pin 255 (Fig.=

The presser-carrier 25| has fase' of the clamping screw 28|, are threaded through the block 219-and abut the block 211. The two blocks thus-held together are received in a guideway 285 (Fig. '7) in the casting |69 and are fastened in adjusted horizontal position by a screw 281 (Figs. 16 and 19), the stem of which is smaller than the hole 289 (Fig.A '7) in a wall of the casting |69 through which is passes, and the head of which is smaller than the countersink 29|. This screw 281 (Figs. 16 and 19) is threaded' into the block 211 and clamps this block firmly` to the wall of the casting |69. When the screw has been loosened, the block 211, and with' it the block 219, may be adjusted horizontally so as to adjust the folder transversely of the line of feed. To facilitatesuch adjustmenua pin 293,'which is rotatable'in a hole 295 (Fig. 7) in a. 'wall of the casting |69, has at its inner end an eccentricY 291 (Fig. 16) which is received in a socket in the block 211 so that, when the -pin 293 is turned, the

folder-carrier consisting of the blocks 211, 219V is adjusted transversely of the direction of feed movement of the work. The folder is reciprocated in the inclined guideway formed partly in the block 211 and partly in the'block 219 by alink 299, the upper end of which is pivoted to the lower end of the stem of the folder. The lower end of this link is pivoted at 39| to a link 393, which in turn is pivoted at 395 to the upper end of a link 361, the lower end of which is pivoted to the tail of a yoke 339, said yoke being pivoted at 3|| to the frame of the machine and being actuated by a cam 3|3 on the countershaft d1.

The construction and mounting of the grippernger 233, which intermittently grips the work against the presser-foot, will now be described, it being remembered that when the machine has been stopped it is desirable to pull down the gripper-finger preparatory to presenting a piece of work to the machine. Referring particularly to Figs. 26 to 29, the gripper-finger 233 is fast to the upper end of a rod 3|5 which is vertically slidable in a bore 3|1 (Fig. 7) formed in the casting |39. Referring to Fig. 28, the lower end o-f rod 3|5 carries a small block 3|6 having 4a horizontal slot in which is slidable a small square block 3|8, said block being pivoted at 3|3 to the horizontal arm of a three-armed lever 332i, the lower arm of which is pivoted to one end of a link 323. The other end of this link is pivoted to the lower end of an upwardly extending bent lever 325 at the upper end of which is a hub, rotatably mounted on the same pin |33 about which the yoke |8|, which acts to reciprocate the anvil, is pivoted. The .three-armed lever 32| is also pivoted at 321to one end of a short arm 329, the other end of which is fast to the inner end of a pin 33| which is rotatable in a hole 333 (Fig. 7) in a wall of the casting |89 `and extends out through said hole. Fast to the outer end of Ithe pin 33| outside of the wall of the casting |69 (Fig. 29) is a two-armed lever 335, the hub of which is pinned to the outer end of the rotatable .pin 33|. A spring-pressed plunger 331, acting against the upper end of the upper arm of the lever 32|, acts through said lever and the link 323 to hold the bent lever 325 against a cam 339 on the countershaft 41. A second spring-pressed plunger 34|, mounted in a cap 393 fastened to the frame by screws 345, tends to swing 4the lever 335 clockwise, as Viewed in Fig. 28, as far as an adjustable stop-pin 331 will permit and holds this lever in the position shown. Since the lever 335 is thus held, the pivot 321 is held immovable, and rotation of the shaft 41 with its cam 339 rocks the three-armed lever 32| about the pivot 321 and reciprocates the gripper-'finger 233 vertically. When now, with the machine at rest, it is desired to lower the gripper-finger 233 to facilitate the presentation of a piece of work to the machine, Ithe operator has merely to push in a pin 349, which is slidably mounted in the cap 343 and the inner end of which contacts with the upper end of the upper arm of the lever 335. This rocks the lever 335 counterclockwise (Fig. 28) about the fixed pivot 33|; and, due to the linkage described above, pulls down the gripper-finger, the three-armed lever 32| moving bodily downward. The casting |69, as has been explained, is fastened to the frame by dowel pins and screws which pass through holes l1! in a wall of said casting. The dowel pins (Figs. 26 and 27) are indicated at 35| and the screws at 353.

The knife 35| (Fig. 25) is fast to a bent lever 363 pivoted about a rod 355 about which it maybe caused to oscillate when desired so as to snip the vmargin of the work. The knife on its cutting strokes cooperates (Fig. 24) with an adjacent vertical flat face of the plow 235 to shear the work. The upper end of the bent knife-lever 363 (Fig. 25) is connectedto the lower end of a vertical link 366 by a ball joint; and the upper end. of this link is connected by a second ball joint with an arm 361, the hub of which is loosely mounted on the rockshaft 81 (see also Fig. 8 from which the link 366 has been omitted). When,

therefore, the arm 361 is oscillated, the knife 36| i is oscillated to snip the margin of .the Work. This arm is normally held stationary in its lowered position by a` spring 368 (Figs. 8 and 21) but can be connected when desired to a constantly oscillating arm 339. For this purpose, the outer ends of the arms 331, 339 are provided with openended slots which face each other, and the outer end of a small lever 31| can be moved entirely into the slot in the arm 331 (in which case the knife is stationary and inoperative) or into the position shown in Fig. 25 (in which case the knife is oscillated and operative). The arm 31| (Fig. 2i) is forked at its inner end and is pivoted to the arm 331 by .a pin 313 which passes through the arms of the fork and through a vertical hole 315 (Fig. 8) in the arm 351. The hub of the actuating arm 369 (Fig. 24) is loose on the rockshaft 81 and has a depending portion which is held against a cam 311 on the driving shaft 43 by means of a spring 319. The small forked lever 31| (Fig. 21), the Iangular position of which determines whether the knife is being oscillated, has one arm of its fork elongated to extend between the end of a spring-pressed plunger 38| and the end of a push-rod 383. The other end of the push-rod 383 (Fig. l) is connected by a link 385 with the upright arm of a bell-crank lever 331 which is pivoted at 389 to the overhanging arm 4|. To the outer end of the horizontal arm of the bell-crank lever is pivoted the upper end of a Itreadle-rod 39|, the lower end of which is connected to a treadle (not shown). A `tension spring 393, 4which is stronger than the compression spring 335 (Fig. 2l) which acts against the spring-pressed plunger 33|, normally swings the bell-crank lever 381 counterclcckwise (Fig. 1) to push the rod l383 to the left and thereby swing the small control lever 31| (Fig, 21) counterclockwise sufficiently so that the outer end of this small lever is entirely within theopenended slot in the outer end of the arm 3611. Normally, then, this arm remains stationary and the knife is held stationary in inoperative position. When, however, the treadle-rod 39| (Fig. 1) is pulled down by depressing the treadle (and this is the position of parts shown in the drawings), the push-rod 383 is pulled to the right and the spring-pressed plunger 33| swings the small control lever 31| clockwise (Fig. 21), whereupon, when the constantly oscillating arm 369 swings down until the open-ended slot in its outer end is in register with the open-ended slot in the outer end of the arm 361, the outer end of the small lever 31| enters the slot -in the constantly oscillating arm 339 so that the arm 361 is oscillated and, through the link 356 and the bent lever 363, oscillates the knife 36|.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine of the class described comprising in combination, a work-support over which the work is fed, fold-forming means, and foldpressinlg means, said .fold-pressing rmeans being supported from above the work-support for movement in a curved path about an axis located beneath the level of the surface of the'work-.support.

' Y 2. A mach-ine ofthe class described comprising in combination, a work-support over which the g fwork is fed, fold-forming means, an arm which overhangs thework-support, fold-pressing means,

l and mechanism carried by the overhanging arm for oscillating the fold-pressing means in a curved j path the plane of which is transverse to the line i lof feed of the work.

3. A machine of the class described comprising incombination, a work-support over which the i work is fed, fold-forming means, an arm which Voverhangs the Work-support, fold-pressing means,

1 and mechanism carried by the overhanging arm for oscillating the fold-pressing means in a curved path about an axis which is located beneath the level of the work-support.

i .in combination, a work-support over which the Hwork is fed, an arm overhanging the support, fold-forming means, and fold-pressing means, said fold-pressing means being mounted in the overhanging arm for movement in a curved path about an axis which is located beneath the level of the work-support.

5. A machine of the class described comprising in combination, a work-support over which the Vwork is fed, an arm overhanging the support, Afold-forming means, fold-pressing means, said last-namd ,means comprising a hammer having a slender upwardly extending stem, and means' mounted in the overhanging arm for oscillating the hammer in a curved path the plane of which is transverse to the line of feed f the work.

6. A machine of the class described comprising -in combination, a work-support over which the work is fed, fold-forming means, fold-pressing means, said fold-pressing means comprising a hammer having an upwardly extending slender I stem, and means for oscillating the hammer in a i curved path, said means including a slide block rigid with the stem of the hammer and a curved guideway in which the block is slidable 7. A machine of theclass described comprising in combination, a` work-support, fold-forming means, a hammer and anvil which cooperate to press the fold and to feed the Work, an overhang- -ing arm vby which the hammer is carried, means 3 for. oscillating the hammer in a curved path the yplane of Vvvhich is transverse to the line of feed of the Work, kand means for reciprocating the hammer and the anvil in the line of feed of the work.V

8. A machine of the class described comprising in combination, a work-support, fold-forming i means, fold-pressing means including a hammer i having .a slender stem, an arm overhanging the Work-support, a hammer-carrier mounted for sliding movement in the overhanging Iarm in a l path parallel to the direction of feed movement of the work, said hammer-carrier having a curved lguideway extending at right angles to thedirection `of feed movement of the work, and a l curvedr slide rigid with the stem of the hammer 1 and slidable in the guideway. i 9. A machine ofthe class described comprising means, fold-pressing meansv including a hammer of the work, said hammer-carrier having a spring for oscillating the hammer, and positively l4. A machine of the class described comprising actuated means for reciprocatingthe hammercarrier.

10. A machine of' the class described comprising in combination, a work-support, means for forming a fold in the work, and means for feeding the work and pressing the fold, said feeding and fold-pressing means including a hammer and an anvil, a hammer-carrier and an anvilcarrier, each having rigid with it a slide, two substantially horizontal guideways in which the slides are respectively received, one Wallof each guideway consisting of a gib, and means for adjusting the gibs.

ll. A machine of the class described comprising in combination, a Work-support, fold-forming means, means for intermittently feeding the Work and means for pressing the fold, said feeding means including upper and lower members which grip the work and advance it one step at a time, separate mechanisms for varying the extent of feed movement of the upper and lower members respectively, treadle-controlled means normally holding the mechanisms in a position to cause a `grip the Work and advance it one step at a time, mechanisms for varying the extent of feed movement of the upper and lower members respectively, treadle-controlled means normally holding the mechanisms in a position to cause a given extent of feed movement to be imparted to the work, manipulation of said treadle-controlled means acting to change the extent of said feed movement, means for limiting the maximum and minimum extent of said feed movements, said means including a pair of easily accessible rotary members, 'a stationary notched plate, and pawls on said members adapted to engage selected notches in the plate. y

13. A machine of the class` described comprising in combination, a Work-support, work-feeding, fold-forming and fold-pressing instrumentalities, a casing detachablyfastened to a part of the frame of the machine, and a spring-pressed presser-foot carried by the casing and removable and replaceable with it. A

14. A machine of the class described comprising in combination, a work-support, work-feeding, folding and fold-pressing instrumentalities, a presser-foot having a stem, a spring for urging the presser-foot toward the vrwork-support, a sleeve through which thestem is slidable, said sleeve being rotatable but held from longitudinal y movement, a stop threaded on the stem and held in contact with the sleeve by v"the spring, and means whereby rotation of the sleeve varies the tension of the spring while maintaining the position of the presser-foot unchanged.

l5. A machine of the class described comprising in combination, a Work-support; Work-feeding, folding and fold-pressing instrumentalities, a presser-foot, a casing'in which the presser-foot is vertically slidable, a threaded sleeve also* vertically slidable in the casingia.- second 'sleevethe upper part of which is rotatable in the casing and the lower part of which is threaded into the first-named sleeve, a stem fastened at its lower end to the presser-foot and extending slidably up -through the first-named sleeve, a spring between the presser-foot and said first-named sleeve, and a nut threaded on the upper end of the stem in position to contact with the top of the second-named sleeve.

16. A construction according to claim 15 in which means are provided for detachably fastening the casing to the frame of the machine whereby the casing with the presser-foot and its mounting may be readily removed and replaced.

17. A machine of the class described comprising in combination, a work-support, feeding, folding and fold-pressing instrumentalities, a presser-foot, a gripper-nger for intermittently cooperating with the presser-foot to grip the work, an actuating lever connected with the gripper-nger, a pivot, means for oscillating the lever about the pivot to reciprocate the gripper-linger, and manually operable means for lowering the pivot and with it the actuating lever and the gripper-finger.

18. A machine of the class described comprising in combination, a work-support, feeding, folding and fold-pressing instrumentalities, a presser-foot, a gripper-linger for intermittently cooperating with the presser-foot to grip the work, an actuating lever to one arm of which the gripping linger is pivoted, a pivot for the lever, means connected with a second arm of the lever for oscillatingv the lever about the pivot, means for holding the pivot stationary during the oscillation of the lever, and means for lowering the pivot when lthe machine is at rest to lower the lever and with it the gripper-linger.

JAMES E. MCINTIRE. 

